Beyond the Fairytale
by RueEmerson
Summary: Caryl does exist! A glimpse of what happens after season 9's finale.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: I couldn't help be inspired that the Caryl ship may yet make an appearance in season 10! _**

Carol watched the kids at Alexandria throw snowballs at Daryl and laughed in spite of herself. It had been a hard road but this hint of happiness made her heart hurt a little less.

Michonne silently appeared at her side and stood for a moment before she spoke.

"You're welcome to stay with us as long as you want," she said as she watched Judith kneel down and help RJ make a snowball.

Carol dipped her head in acknowledgment with a slight smile. She hadn't thought that far ahead yet. Sleeping arrangements seemed trivial when one was in survival mode.

Daryl glanced in her direction with a smirk and she knew she would make it. Not as Queen Carol or badass Carol or even baker Carol. Just Carol.

CARYLFOREVERCARYLFOREVERCARYLFOREVER

"You can have my room," Daryl told Carol as they traipsed into the Grimes' house behind Michonne and the kids, tracking snow everywhere despite trying to shake it off at the door. "I'll sleep on the couch."

Carol sighed. Daryl was always putting her and her needs first.

"Tell you what. Why don't we share?" she said as she followed him upstairs. He paused midstep and peered at her over his shoulder with a dark, perplexed look. She lifted an eyebrow and shrugged.

Her relationship with Tobin and then Ezekiel never dampened their playful banter, so she had no qualms teasing him.

Daryl opened the door of the bedroom Rick had given him eons ago. He had stayed there for a while, but after Rick died, he couldn't see sticking around long-term. It just didn't feel right.

Carol slid past him and sat down on the bed.

"You think I'm kidding," she said as she leaned back on her hands. Daryl actually blushed.

"Aren't ya?" he replied. She cocked her head to one side.

"I don't bite, Pookie," she softly said, using a nickname he hadn't heard in ages. "I could use the company."

Daryl didn't know what to say to that, so he just set his crossbow in the corner before sinking next to her on the bed.

CARYLFOREVERCARYLFOREVERCARYLFOREVER

The next morning, Michonne was slightly surprised to find Dog resting in front of Carol's door, but knocked on it anyway before cracking it open a bit and stepping over the mutt. She wanted to tell Carol she hadn't seen Daryl yet, but breakfast was waiting for them in the kitchen.

Michonne was slightly stunned but not completely shocked to see the two of them on the bed together, fully clothed, sound asleep, Carol curled into Daryl's chest and his arms enclosed around her.

She quietly stepped back over Dog, closed the door, and returned downstairs.

CARYLFOREVERCARYLFOREVERCARYLFOREVER

Carol and Daryl fell into an easy routine as the days wore on and continued sleeping in the same bed together. They never talked about it nor did they speak about whatever this was with anyone else.

No one thought to even question their relationship because they had always been close friends as far as anyone knew. Only Michonne knew their backstory and she wasn't about to reveal that with anyone.

A defining moment came when Ezekiel arrived at Alexandria for a strategic conference to defeat Alpha and the Whisperers with Michonne and other heads of state. He still loved Carol, and Carol still cared for him, but their fairytale life had long faded.

Carol wasn't one to show public displays of affection, but living in close proximity to Daryl had softened her rough edges a bit, so Ezekiel was quite taken aback when he spotted Carol—now sporting a shorter hairstyle—leaning into Daryl at the community dinner.

Daryl still wore his ratty one-winged vest, but he too sported a less shaggy haircut and had cleaned up a bit since his wild days in the woods with Dog. To an outsider, the two would just look like a normal couple enjoying a meal with friends.

Ezekiel tempered down his jealousy and sorrow, masking it with a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N: Thanks for the love! Second chapter is up! (Sorry for the long delay …)_**

Carol acknowledged her former husband with a nod but didn't make a move in his direction. It pained Ezekiel to see her sticking to Daryl's side. He wished for days gone by when his queen stood by him.

Daryl protectively wrapped an arm Carol's shoulders in a silent challenge to the king as the man passed on his way to the conference room. Ezekiel had told in him in so many words months ago to back off, even leave, but Carol had made her choice—and Daryl wasn't about to lose her ever again.

"Well that wasn't awkward at all," Carol muttered as they watched the door close behind the heads of state. Daryl's jaw twitched and he gave her a half smile.

CARYLFOREVERCARYLFOREVERCARYLFOREVER

While they were sleeping together in the same bed, they really didn't start sleeping together until the day Ezekiel arrived.

Ever the servant, Carol had chosen to stay to clean up after the community dinner while Daryl had returned to the house to shower. He had hunted that morning for the occasion and was beginning to smell the stink.

He exited the bathroom with a towel around his waist and was startled to see Carol sitting on their bed when he entered their room. Even though they shared space, they hadn't been in the habit of showing much skin around each other.

Not that he wasn't interested; he just didn't want to pressure her into anything. They had been through so much together over the past decade that he had learned to wait on her to speak her mind or make her move when she was ready.

Seeing her ex had woken something wanton in Carol that she now knew only Daryl could fulfill. It had been a long time coming. They had danced around it ever since she had propositioned him to screw around that night all those years ago atop the overturned vehicle by the gate.

Daryl debated whether to grab his clothes and return to the bathroom or openly dress in front of her. Carol suddenly gave him a third option he never envisioned.

She came to stand in front of him and fingered the old arrow scar on his side a moment before she reached for his towel. His hand covered hers before she could release the knot.

"You sure 'bout this?" he asked, his gravelly voice deeper than usual. In response she simply pulled her shirt over her head, leaving her bare chested like him. He swallowed, his body coming to attention at the sight in front of him.

It had been ages since he had been with anyone. The last time he'd had sex was before the turn. It had been longer than that since he'd looked at a woman's body in the light of day.

The soft swell of her breasts and the faded stretch marks on her belly combined with the faded scars smattered across her arms turned Daryl on even more.

Carol shyly smiled at him as she stepped close and slid her hands around his neck, drawing his head down. But instead of pressing a kiss to his forehead like so many times before, she pressed her lips to his.

Daryl reveled in her kiss. His arms made their way around her and he pulled her flush against him. Heady with desire, he nudged her toward the bed.

She complied by backing up, only after tugging on his towel. He tossed it aside and then tackled the button of her pants. She pushed his hands away before quickly shedding the rest of her clothes, climbing onto the bed and laying on her back with a come hither stare.

Like a predator with hooded eyes stalking his prey, he slowly crawled over her, taking in her scent and hungering for it.

Daryl covered her body with his, their eyes locked. He had longed to have her under him like this, but she had always belonged to someone else, not him.

Until now.

Carol could see the raw emotion warring within him and instantly knew she was the cause. While they had leaned on each other every step of the brutal way, she had kept him at bay.

Each time they had moved closer to connecting in a more intimate way, she had brought it to a screeching halt—that moment in his prison cell, that evening in the shelter, the interlude in the woods, and even that day in her house. She had always stopped him.

Until now.

She tenderly touched his cheek, encouraging him to make his move once and for all.

CARYLFOREVERCARYLFOREVERCARYLFOREVER

Daryl was contemplating round two—Merle would be so proud, he fleetingly thought—when he and Carol were drawn from their afterglow reverie by a knock on the bedroom door and a small innocent voice on the other side.

"Are you ready for target practice yet?" Judith calmly asked. Carol stifled a chuckle as she buried her face in Daryl's shoulder. He rolled his eyes and thumped her shoulder in return to shush her.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute. Go 'head and get it set up," Daryl called out.

"Okay," Judith replied. They waited to hear her boots clunk down the stairs before Daryl shifted and angled his body over Carol's.

"Guess this will hafta wait," he growled, pressing his semi-hard erection against her thigh. He captured his lips with his once more and then forced himself to roll out of bed.

Carol lazily watched him yank his clothes on and wondered when she last felt this good. Like everything he did, Daryl poured his heart and soul into his lovemaking.

Once dressed, he leaned over her with a smirk and she grasped his shirt to hold him there as they stared into each other's eyes.

Neither whispered declarations of the love that had always been between them. They merely acknowledged it with a brief kiss before he clambered after his little asskicker.


End file.
